During the past decade, medicine and healthcare have experienced significant changes and improvements. With the advent of highly sophisticated medical devices, and the portability of such devices, healthcare delivery has become global. Global healthcare, aka global medicine, is primarily characterized by a doctor being at one location, and a patient being at another location. The distance between doctor and patient can be minimal, such as the doctor in one room and the patient in an adjoining room, or the distance can be significant, such as the doctor and patient each being on opposite sides of the earth.
The doctor is able to participate in a patient evaluation either in real-time via a video process, or the patient's data is acquired, stored and securely transported to the doctor or a medical facility for later review.
The benefits of a global healthcare provider are obvious. In the past, if a person in a remote location was injured or became ill, there could often be a delay of days or weeks before the person was brought to a doctor or medical facility. If the injury or illness was serious, the delay often resulted in the death of the person. Now it is possible to provide instant state-of-the-art medical care to the most remote location, thereby substantially increasing an injured or sick person's change of recovery or survival.
Additionally, many people have a personal doctor whom they trust and feel comfortable with a global healthcare provider will allow an individual to continue their relationship with a preferred doctor even if the individual or the doctor relocates.